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The $525.5 million acquisition of AthenaHealth’s campus could open up new opportunities for life science industry growth in Watertown.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, one of the nation’s largest life science developers, closed on the purchase of the Arsenal Street property last and leased back nearly 410,000 square feet of the campus’s 760,000 square feet to electronic medical records specialist Athenahealth.

Athenahealth had planned to lead a large-scale expansion of the 29-acre campus including five additional office buildings, but its real estate strategy changed following its acquisition by Veritas Capital and Elliott Management.

The former munitions factory was converted into office space in 2000. Athenahealth leased 133,000 square feet in 2004 and bought the property from Harvard University in 2013 for $168.5 million.

Watertown has emerged as one of the favored destinations for life science industry growth outside of Cambridge, with developments such as 65 Grove St. and LINX leasing up to growing biotech firms before being sold to institutional investors.